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Article ESSAY ON PRUDENCE. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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Essay On Prudence.
your mouth of what they only surmised before . Notwithstanding this is so common a stratagem , so usual a snare , yet there are daily instances of people being caught in it . But were it even true , that the person who entrusted his secret to you had reposed the same confidence in others , this is not a reason that discharges you from your obligation of secrecy : you should
always inviolably observe it , without disclosing the affair even to those who have equally shared in your friend ' s confidence . How do you know but it is a matter of importance , that in company with those - very persons you should appear to know nothing of the matter ? " But some of them , " you may say , " have spoken of it already . " What do you pretend to infer from thence ? Does another person ' s
infidelity justify yours . Again I repeat it , you have accepted a trust , and none but the person who reposed it can discharge you from it : he alone who communicated the secret to you has a right to untie your tongue . Even a rupture between two friends does not annul the obligation of secrecy : you cannot get rid of your debts by quarrelling with your creditor . How detestable a perfidy is it to employ for your resentment the arms you have drawn from the bosom of friendship ! —
Though we should cease to be united by the ties of affection , are we therefore discharged from those of honesty and rectitude ? In vain would you alledge , that the wretch whom you detest has merited your aversion , merely through his own indiscretion in disclosing your secret . A fine project of revenge ! to punish a treachery , you are to become yourself a traitor ! You ought to lodge another person ' s secret in the most
impenetrable recess of your bosom ; you should conceal it , if possible , from yourself , for fear of being ever tempted to make a bad use of it . Toapply this knowledge either to the prejudice of the person who confided in you , or to your own particular emolument , is usurping another person ' s property : an usurpation which even the desire of re- » venge , already criminal in itself , is incapable to justify .
How much more flagitious a crime would it be , to make use of the very benefits conferred upon you , in order to betray your bene-. factor ! There are favours which ought always to be concealed ; and the same principle of gratitude which prompts us to publish others obliges us yet more strongly to conceal these . But too often ihe reverse falls out ; those which we ought to divulge , through ingratitude we conceal ; and . those which we ought to conceal , we divulge through vanity .
ACTIONS . If God alone were witness' to our actions , our heart being irreproachable , irreproachable also would be our conduct ; for he judges us only by the heart . But mankind , on the contrary , seeing no more than externals , judge of our intention by our actions ; and weigh and estimate us by the testimony of their senses . It , is , therefore , both our interest and duty to avoid giving any voluntary occasion to suspicions that may injure our reputation . It is our interest , because , having
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essay On Prudence.
your mouth of what they only surmised before . Notwithstanding this is so common a stratagem , so usual a snare , yet there are daily instances of people being caught in it . But were it even true , that the person who entrusted his secret to you had reposed the same confidence in others , this is not a reason that discharges you from your obligation of secrecy : you should
always inviolably observe it , without disclosing the affair even to those who have equally shared in your friend ' s confidence . How do you know but it is a matter of importance , that in company with those - very persons you should appear to know nothing of the matter ? " But some of them , " you may say , " have spoken of it already . " What do you pretend to infer from thence ? Does another person ' s
infidelity justify yours . Again I repeat it , you have accepted a trust , and none but the person who reposed it can discharge you from it : he alone who communicated the secret to you has a right to untie your tongue . Even a rupture between two friends does not annul the obligation of secrecy : you cannot get rid of your debts by quarrelling with your creditor . How detestable a perfidy is it to employ for your resentment the arms you have drawn from the bosom of friendship ! —
Though we should cease to be united by the ties of affection , are we therefore discharged from those of honesty and rectitude ? In vain would you alledge , that the wretch whom you detest has merited your aversion , merely through his own indiscretion in disclosing your secret . A fine project of revenge ! to punish a treachery , you are to become yourself a traitor ! You ought to lodge another person ' s secret in the most
impenetrable recess of your bosom ; you should conceal it , if possible , from yourself , for fear of being ever tempted to make a bad use of it . Toapply this knowledge either to the prejudice of the person who confided in you , or to your own particular emolument , is usurping another person ' s property : an usurpation which even the desire of re- » venge , already criminal in itself , is incapable to justify .
How much more flagitious a crime would it be , to make use of the very benefits conferred upon you , in order to betray your bene-. factor ! There are favours which ought always to be concealed ; and the same principle of gratitude which prompts us to publish others obliges us yet more strongly to conceal these . But too often ihe reverse falls out ; those which we ought to divulge , through ingratitude we conceal ; and . those which we ought to conceal , we divulge through vanity .
ACTIONS . If God alone were witness' to our actions , our heart being irreproachable , irreproachable also would be our conduct ; for he judges us only by the heart . But mankind , on the contrary , seeing no more than externals , judge of our intention by our actions ; and weigh and estimate us by the testimony of their senses . It , is , therefore , both our interest and duty to avoid giving any voluntary occasion to suspicions that may injure our reputation . It is our interest , because , having